Quantum Phase Transitions (Summer 24)

Master level course in specialization area "Theoretical Physics" (VWm)
Course language: English
Instructors: Dr. Lukas Janssen (lectures) and Dr. Zihong Liu (exercises)

Table of contents

1. 1. 1. Coordinates
      2. Content & Lecture Notes
      3. Homework 
      4. Video Recordings
      5. Schedule
      6. Registration
      7. Description
      8. Literature
      9. Contact

Coordinates

Monday (2), 9:20h-10:50h, BZW/A120/P
Friday (2), 9:20h-10:50h, WIL/C129/H (ATTENTION: new room!) (exception on 31.05.24: SE2/201/H)

Content & Lecture Notes

(handwritten notes will be posted after chapter has been discussed in class)

• Introduction
• Classical phase transitions and universality
• Statistical mechanics and path integrals
• Renormalization group
• Theoretical models for quantum phase transitions
• General aspects of quantum phase transitions
• Magnetic quantum phase transitions
• Quantum phase transitions of bosons and fermions

Homework 

(problem sets will be posted at least a week before their discussion in class)

Problem Set #1 (discussion April 19)
Problem Set #2 (discussion May 3)
Problem Set #3 (discussion May 27)

Video Recordings

(lecture recordings will be posted on videocampus.sachsen.de and linked here)

Lecture 01 (08.04.24): Introduction
Lecture 02 (12.04.24): Classical phase transitions and universality I
Lecture 03 (15.04.24): Classical phase transitions and universality II
Lecture 04 (22.04.24): Classical phase transitions and universality III
Lecture 05 (26.04.24): Classical phase transitions and universality IV

Schedule

Week	Monday		Friday
15	08.04.24	Lecture	12.04.24	Lecture
16	15.04.24	Lecture	19.04.24	Exercise #1
17	22.04.24	Lecture	26.06.24	Lecture
18	29.04.24	Lecture	03.05.24	Exercise #2
19	06.05.24	Lecture	10.05.24	Lecture
20	13.05.24	Lecture	17.05.24	Lecture
22	27.05.24	Exercise #3	31.05.24	Lecture
23	03.06.24	Lecture	07.06.24	Exercise #4
24	10.06.24	Lecture	14.06.24	Lecture
25	17.06.24	Lecture	21.06.24	Exercise #5
26	24.06.24	Lecture	28.06.24	Lecture
27	01.07.24	Lecture	05.07.24	Lecture
28	08.07.24	Lecture	12.07.24	Exercise #6
29	15.07.24	Lecture	19.07.24	Exercise #7

Registration

• B.Sc. & M.Sc. students: Online through selma
• Ph.D. students: In class on 08.04.24 or 12.04.24

Description

Quantum phase transitions have become an important research area of modern condensed matter physics. These transitions occur at absolute zero temperature upon varying a nonthermal control parameter such as pressure, magnetic field, or chemical composition. The presence of a continuous quantum phase transition can influence the observable finite-temperature properties of a system over a wide range of parameters, with a variety of new and unexpected phenomena, including the possible emergence of non-Fermi liquid behavior and high-temperature superconductivity.

The lecture will give an introduction to the field from the perspective of condensed-matter physics. It will cover concrete model systems for quantum phase transitions, universal aspects of classical and quantum critical phenomena, theoretical methods such as quantum field theories and the renormalization group, as well as advanced topics including related aspects in high-energy physics. Relevant experimental observations will be discussed as well.

The lecture is suitable for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students, as well as for B.Sc. students familiar with second quantization. Basic knowledge in many-particle theory (Green's functions, mean-field theory, diagrammatics) is helpful.

Literature

• I. Herbut, A Modern Approach to Critical Phenomena (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
• S. Sachdev, Quantum Phase Transitions (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
• M. Vojta, Thermal and Quantum Phase Transitions (lecture notes, Les Houches Doctoral Training School in Statistical Physics, 2015)
• J. Zinn-Justin, Quantum Field Theory and Critical Phenomena (Oxford University Press, 2002)

Contact

Dr. L. Janssen
Emmy Noether Group "Quantum Critical Matter"